Children's garden to join Irwin Park

Published 1:05 pm, Thursday, May 27, 2010

Irwin Park will soon include a stone garden for children following Town Council members' unanimous approval of a request from the Garden Club last Wednesday night.

Gillian Foster, a Garden Club member, described the garden as a maze of crushed stone with educational incentives for children. Youngsters who enter the garden will encounter a series of large, flat stepping stones numbered one to 13. At the end of the circular path, near the foot of the 13th stone, will be an entrance to a "magical mushroom circle" where children can play alongside natural stone mushrooms beneath the shade of an existing, mature tree. It will be located behind the barn in Irwin Park.

"We wanted to come up with something for the younger children," Foster said. "That was the idea -- something for the [3- to 5-year-olds]."

The garden requires no upkeep and its stones are already present at the site, according to Foster. It's slated for completion before the end of the summer season.